You may have heard news over the
past few weeks of President Obama’s
plan to move detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to Thomson, Illinois. This
plan seemingly fulfills Obama’s campaign promise to close the facilities that
are an international embarrassment to the US. The
off-shore facility that houses detainees allegedly associated with terrorism is
rife with civil liberties violations, from indefinite detention without charge
to use of torture to complete lack of
due process. As soon as Obama took office, he promised to close the detention
center and restore the rule of law in America.
I use the word “seemingly”
because this move, as far as we know right now, doesn’t restore the rule of law
at all. Essentially, Obama appears to be moving Guantánamo and all its bad
practices to Illinois, effectively creating a Gitmo North.
We hear from folks in our national office that around 100 detainees of two
specific types will be transferred to this Supermax prison in the Midwest –
detainees scheduled to be tried through the
military commissions, a kangaroo court lacking in meaningful due process,
and detainees who will continue to be held indefinitely
without charge or trial, a practice that is a direct affront to habeas
corpus. Basically, Obama has taken the most lawless aspects of Guantánamo and
transferred them to Thomson.
We have yet to see whether these
horrible practices will continue at Thomson. Yesterday hearings were held to
bring public opinion into the debate about whether the state of Illinois should sell the
prison to the federal government, a necessary action before detainees can be
moved. Additionally, the federal government needs time to find funding to
purchase the prison, money that
probably won’t come through approval from lawmakers. Both of these delays
may provide time to address some of these concerns. While the delay provides
some time for thoughtful negotiations, it also means more time that the
US has the mark of shame Guantánamo
brings to our country’s name. At the ACLU of MAINE, we urge President Obama will move
swiftly to close Guantánamo, but not make the mistake of transferring the same
horrible practices from Gitmo to another location.